Folding umbrella.



w. c. WOLFE. FOLDING UMBRELLA. APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, .1910.

987,208 Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

Inventor b Q 1 V y Attorneys rm: NORRIS FETERS co., w oooooooooooo c.

TINTTED STATES PATEN T @FFTQE.

WALTER C. W'OLFE, OF MONTROSE, COLORADO.

FOLDING UMBRELLA.

ceases.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER C. VVOLFE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Montrose, in the county of Montrose and State of Colorado,have invented a new and useful Folding Umbrella, of which the followingis a specification.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improvedconstruction of folding umbrella and the invention aims primarily toprovide an entirely practical article of this type which will be simplein construction and in no way unsightly or noticeably different from theordinary umbrella now in general use.

Among other objects, one is to so construct the umbrella ribs thatwhether folded or extended, they will occupy, in the former instance,but little space and in the latter instance, but the same amount ofspace occupied by an ordinary umbrella rib.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thegeneral construction and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a portion of an umbrella frameconstructed in accordance with the present invention, but one of themain and stay ribs being shown however, for the sake of clearness, Fig.2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating the umbrella folded, Fig.3 is a vertical sectional view through the main and stay ribs at theirpoint of connection, one section of the main rib however being shown inelevation in this figure, Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on theline 4-4 of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 on the line 55 ofFig. 3. Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5 taken through the twosections of one of the main ribs of the umbrella.

In the drawings, the umbrella is illustrated as embodying a staff whichin general appearance resembles the staif of an ordinary umbrella, thisstaff including or being made up of several sections one of thesesections being indicated by the numeral 15, another by the numeral 16,and a third by the numeral 17 Of these sections, the section 15 isproperly speaking the handle section inasmuch as at its lower end it isprovided with a hand grip or handle 18. The section 16 is connected, inany suitable manner, at its lower end with the upper end of the section15 and the section 17 is the ferrule section and is connected at itslower Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 5, 1910.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

Serial No. 570,482.

end to the section 16. Also, the section 16 carries the usual top notch19 to which are pivoted the main ribs of the umbrella frame in a mannerto be presently explained and the runner of the umbrella, indicated bythe numeral 20, is slidable not only upon the section 16, but also uponthe section 15 and is held against downward sliding upon the section 16,when the umbrella is raised and in use, by the usual spring catch 21,there being provided, upon the section 15, a spring catch 22 of ordinaryform for en gagement with the runner 20 to prevent its slipping upon thesection 15 when the umbrella 1s closed 1n the ordinary manner and is notin use.

The main ribs of the umbrella frame are composed each of two sectionsand of these sections one is indicated by the numeral 35 and the otherby the numeral 36. The section 35 is pivoted at its inner end to the topnotch 19 and. is of channel formation whereas the section 36 is ofresilient wire material and is slidably fitted in the channel of thesection 35. The section 36, adjacent its inner end, is bent to afford anoff-set indicated by the numeral 37 and at its end 1s bent or curved asat 38 so as to cause its extremity 39 to bear frictionally against thebottom of the channel of the section 35. This engagement of theextremity of the section 36 with the bottom wall of the channel and theengagement of the portion of the section beyond its off-set 37, with thesaid wall of the channel, results in that portion of the section betweenthe bent end 38 and the 011- set 37 and indicated by the numeral 40,being spaced from the wall of the channel. The section 35, at the outerend, has fixed or formed upon it a sleeve indicated by the numeral 41and formed in its under side with a bent up seat or socket 42 designedto receive the off-set 37 of the section 36 when the two sections are inextended relation as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, it beingunderstood that in order for the offset to enter this seat, the portion40 is sprung toward the bottom of the channel of the section 35 againstthe resiliency of this portion of the section 36 and that while theengagement of the off-set in the seat is not a positive one, it isfrictional to such a degree as to preclude any possibility of thesections becoming accidentally telescoped when the umbrella is inordinary use. The stay ribs of the umbrella are indicated by Also itwill be readily understood that the section 36 of each main rib maytelescope into'the section 35 of the said rib and the main ribs thus beshortened to the extent of about one-half their original or normallength. I g

It will further be observed from an i11- spection of the drawings andparticularly Fig. 3thereof that the ofi-set portion 37 of the ribsection 36 is broadened to a slight degree so as to fit frictionallybetween the walls of the channel in which it is received. Also it willbe observedjfrom an inspection of Fig. 6 of the drawings that thesection 35, in cross section, is more nearly cylindrical thansemi-cylindrical so that the section 36 is held against springing out ofthe channel of the section 37.

What is claimed is In an umbrella, a stafl, a main rib coinprising aninner section of channel formation, a resilient outer section slidablyfitted in the channel of the inner section, the outer section having itsinner end portion bent in a curve to project out from the said channelof the inner section with the extremity of the said bent portion bearingfrictionally against the bottom of the said channel, the

said outer section adjacent its bent portion being bent to form anoflset and the portion of the said outer section between its said bentend portion and its oifset being spaced from the bottom of the channelof the inner section, the said inner section at its outer end, beingformed with a sleeve portion having a seat to frictionally receive theoliset of the outer section when the sections are relatively extended, arunner upon the stafi", and a stay rib pivoted to the runner and to thesaid bent end portion of the outer rib.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WALTER C. WOLFE.

Witnesses:

J. C. BEDDING, L. B. COTTER.

1 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,by'addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

